Meet your new crush, club kids: Colette
(Credit: Tom Casey/Om Records)
Hyped on: Transmission, POGIMIX.com
Official site
MySpace
Who: This dynamic Chicago DJ made her name by singing live while spinning instrumental dance tracks. Colette’s deep house beats and seductive vocal style earned her a huge underground following, which has grown exponentially alongside her recording career. Her tracks were featured in “The Devil Wears Prada” movie, and she looks to make an even bigger impact with the slinky tunes on “Push,” her second artist album.
What: “Push” comes loaded with a panorama of big beats, sonic surprises and Colette’s rich, inimitable voice. “If” is a sexy disco swirl that recalls Kylie Minogue at her best, and Britney Spears would kill for the funky ’80s R&B of “Get You Over.” The album’s secret weapon is the gorgeous, Neptune-y hip-pop of “Funny,” one of the finest songs Colette’s recorded yet.
Made for: Beat-crazy club kids longing for danceable music with personality, melody and actual songs. Post-ravers who miss cutting-edge productions, but need something catchy to sing along with now. Music supervisors looking for super-fresh tunes to soundtrack that next big movie/TV show. Tweens sick to death of the tired tarts on pop radio.
X-Factor: Colette is part of the all-female SuperJane DJ crew, who can all out-rock most guys on the turntables. And she recently married actor Thomas Ian Nicholas, who you know from the “American Pie” movies. - SS
Oakley Hall, “I’ll Follow You” (Merge)
Hyped on: The AV Club, PopMatters, ThaBombShelter
Official site
MySpace
Who: A Brooklyn six-piece named after a cult-pulp novelist (famous for weaving stories around the brutal American West) and fronted by Pat Sullivan, formerly known as Papa Crazee, of Brah Records experimentalists Oneida.
What: Alt-country has long been overused shorthand for country music that: 1) isn’t played on traditional radio; 2) doesn’t suck. Oakley Hall gives credence to the term by taking traditional country elements (lap steel guitars, twangy boy/girl harmonies) and padding it with organs, psychedelic guitar spurts (“No Dreams”) and an all-around punk rock ethic. The band’s new label Merge wisely spent some of those Arcade Fire ducats in recording their raw energy with producers Peter Katis (Interpol, The National) and Nicolas Vernhes (Fiery Furnaces, Ted Leo).
Made for: Whiskeytown fans looking for a fresh band to latch onto. People sick of Ryan Adams’ scattershot solo output. People sick of Ryan Adams.
X-Factor: Sullivan’s co-pilot, fellow singer-songwriter Rachel Cox. On “Angela,” she takes a valiant shot at knocking Neko Case from atop her country chanteuse pedestal. - MR
Odd Nosdam, “Level Live Wires” (Anticon)
Hyped on: Brainwashed, Tiny Mix Tapes, The Distillery
Official site
MySpace
Who: Beatmaker David Madson was the musical visionary behind cLOUDDEAD, an experimental hip-hop group that left scores of imitators and bewildered backpackers in its wake in the early ‘00s. Under his Odd Nosdam alias, Madson has produced trippy soundscapes for most of his Anticon labelmates, as well as fellow mavericks like Sage Francis and Mike Patton.
What: “Level Live Wires” is to hip-hop what “Kid A” is to rock—a mind-expanding departure from its roots into territory that could be called experimental if it weren’t so filled with fragments of melody and moments of total gorgeousness. Songs like “Fat Hooks” and “The Kill Tone Two” are all blissed-out ambience, while creepier tracks like “Up in Flames” rumble with shards of found sound and tape hiss.
Made for: Fans of Boards of Canada’s edgier excursions. Spoken word artists in search of a soundtrack. Late-night road trips. Avant-garde gallery openings. Altered states of consciousness.
X-Factor: TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe guest raps on “The Kill Tone Two,” along with Yoni Wolf of Oakland indie-hoppers WHY? About what, it’s hard to say—Odd Nosdam processes their vocals so heavily that only a few lines are audible. - AH
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